Germans in Bessasrabia

Last Update:  2 Nov.  2003

Bessarabian History continuted......

SPEECH  18 May 2002

Germans in Bessarabia

by

Judy A. Remmick-Hubert

KEY

Historical Dates Are:

• 5 m.m. B.C. - Neolithic man roamed the area
• 750-550 B.C. - Ionian , an early Greek, colonization occurred here
• 14-280 - Attached to the Roman Empire
• Became part of the Roman Emp. in 105 AD
• Invaded by Goths, Petchenegs, Cumans, Mongols before 14th C
• 150-1066 - Germanic conquests
• ca. 200  - Goths invaded
• ca. 300 - Black Huns invaded
• 643 - Dulo House, a Finno-Tatar family began to rule Moldavia and Bess area; see King Isperikh of Bulgaria for more info
• after 643 -  Bessarabia was ruled by the Bulgars, a ruling class who's leader was usually from the military with a rank of an officer
• 906 -  House of Arad [a Hungarian-Tater-Finnish-Estonian who leader was called the Magyar] ruled [see history of Hungary] who then raided Europe
• 934 - Petchenegs [Potzinaks; a Turkic people] moved into the area
• ca 1050- Saxons brought into Transylvania area to colonize area [Magyars who intermarried Saxons were called Szekelys]
• 1075-1091- Petchenegs threaten Constantinople
• 1091 -  Petchenegs were defeated by Alexius I in 1091
• ca 1100s -  More Saxon colonists settle frontiers of Arpad-Anjour-Jagellon House who ruled Poland and Hungary
• 1190-1245 - Cumans [also called Polouzians/ Polovsti/Kipcaks], a Turkic people did battles against Russia, Walchia, Byzantium, Hungary... conquered S. Russia...were defeated by Mongols ca. 1245 and fled into Hungary to join Magyars
• 1242 -  Mongols under the leader of Batu passed through Bessarabia to defeat Cumans; Part of the lands owned by the Sultan of Turkey....
• 1386 - Jagellon family under the Poland-Lithuanian crown [see King Ladislaus II of Poland]
• 1397 - Areas of Bessarabia gains independents briefly.
  • Local leaders were ruler of this area [included Bukovina and Bessarabia ]..
• 14 April 1457 - Tatar rule under Stephen "the Great"
• 1497-1488 - Poland-Lithuania invaded Moldavia which resulted in the Turks invasion
• 1484 - Turks took Kastell [Akkermann] and Chilia
• 1512-1521 - Neagoe Basarab ruled Walachia
• 1599-1611 - Michael "the Brave" united, if briefly, Moldavia, Walchia and Transylvania
• by 1600s - Large communities of Jews had formed
• Saxon colonists increased and migrated beyond the borders of Transylvania and into Bessarabia [see Szekely hist].
• 1689-1725 - Peter I "the Great" ruled Russia
  • Peter the Great's connection to the Germans
  • Frequently  visited the German town in Moscow as a youth
• early 1700s - Moldavia Princes began to seek Peter "the Great" of Russia's assistance
• 1709 - Charles XII, King of Sweden, battles against Peter "the Great" at Poltava, flees to the protection of the Turkish Sultan; stopped at Bender[y]/Bess.-Moldavia; Sweden stirred up trouble between Turkey and Russia with the help of Polish princes
  • 650 Germans remain in the area around Kischinev
• 1711 - 1812:  Russia occupied Bessarabia area five times between these years until regained in 1812 under Alexander I [See 1812]
• 1713 - Daman Ali Pash, Sultan's brother-in-law takes control of Moldavia and ruled from Bender[y]
• 18 Oct 1713 - Treaty of Andriaople
  • Historical note: Tolstoy, Sheremetev and Shavirov were one of many prisoners kept until Dec. of 1714.
• 1713-1745 - Mikhail Romanov was elected Tsar of Russia and so began the Romanov Dynasty
• 1714 - Tater Khan Devlet Grey plotted to hand over King Charles XII to Poland; Charles XII escaped and travels about 100 miles a day and arrives 10 Nov 1714 at Straland [a Swedish fortress] on the Baltic in Pomerania
• 1725-1727 - Catherine I ruled Russia under the influences of Prince Menshikov
• 1727-1730 - Peter II ruled under the influence of the Dolgoriki
• 1730-1740 - Anna ruled Russia
• 14 Sept 1739 - Russian military set up administration in Moldavia Marshal Muennich at Bender[y]
• 1740-1741 - Ivan VI with his mother Ana as regent. He was deposed in 1741 and died in 1764
• 1741-1761 - Elisabeth ruled
  • Show Elisabeth's background
    • Elisabeth was the daughter of Peter I and his second  wife Catherine I, the widow of John Rabbe, and dau. of Samuel Skavronski.
    • Elisabeth, who, as far is known, never had a child and  chose Peter as her heir because he was the son of her sister Anne who had married Charles Fred., Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. And, so the half German and half Russian orphan was brought to Russia, converted the Lutheran to Russian Orthodox and did little to prepare him for the throne...
• 1741 - Turkish rule under Constantine Mavrocordat [Hospodors, usually phanariots Greeks appointed by Sultan of Ottoman Empire]
• 1744 - Treaty of Kuchuk-Ruled by Turkey
• 1753 - Skeleton In The Closet
• 1754 -  Catherine gave birth to Paul.....
• 1761 - 1762 - Peter III ruled and was murd.
  • German Wife: Catharine, dau. of Christian Aug., Pr. of Anhalt-Zerbst
  • His love of Frederick II "the Great" and how he copied the Prussian dress and the fear the Russians had that he'd fall under the thumb of Prussia
• 1761 - Catherine,
• 1762-1796 - Catherine , the mother of the future Tsar Paul I, becomes Regent and later crowned herself and she became Catherine II, the Tsarina [Empress] of All the Russias
  • German background
    • Lutheran
    • lived in Germany state of Anhalt-Zerbst until Tsarina Elizabeth asked her to Russia.....
  • Sons:
    1. Alexander I
    2. Constantine
    3. Helen
    4. Mary
    5. Anne
    6. Nicholas I
    7. Michael
• MAP -First Major Wave of Germans Migrating to Russia to the Region of the Volga
• 1769 Sept.- Oct. 1774 - Catherine II "the Great" sent her Russian army  to defeat the Turks and occupy area of  Ukraine which included Bessarabia / Moldavia
• Oct 1778-Jan 1792 - Russian occupation by Potemkin under Catherine II "the Great"'s . Potemkin wanted to turn this area into Christian states  and battled Gazi Hassan.
• Aug 1792 - Alexander Moruzi became Hospodar [Gov] under Turkey of this area
• 1776 - Catherine II "the Great" died a natural death
• 1796-1801 - Paul I ruled Russia
  • Took up his father's love for Prussia and marching......
  • German wife:  Sophia (Maria), dau. of Fred. Eugene, Duke of Wuerttemberg
• Paul I murdered in 1801
• 1801 - 1825 - Alexander I ruled Russia
  • German wife; m. Louise (Elisabeth) dau. of Charles, Mgv. of Baden
• 1803 - Czar appointed  the Frenchman Richelieu Gov. of Odessa; Arrival of more than 2,990 German emigrants to Odessa area
• 1806 - Russia went to war against Napoleon.
• Nov 1806-May 1812 - Russian occupation of Bessarabia
• 1807-1809 - War of Coalition against Napoleon
• 25 June 1807 - Treaty of Tilsit halting the war with Napoleon at this time
• 1810 - Troops under the command of Russian Gen. Kutuzov marched from their defeat at Austerlitz along the Danube toward Rustuchuck which is 70 km near Bucharest
• Aug 1810 - Bulk of Turkish soldiers pass through Soak Creek [later renamed Borodino in 1815]/Bessarabia, Moldavia under the Grand Viser Ahmet Bey
• 1812 - Napoleon invaded Russia in his conquest of Bessarabia
• 7 Sept 1812 - Battle of Borodino began the end of Napoleon's Grande Army
• 1812 - Russian Gen. Kutuzov defeats Turks under Bey
  • - Tolstoy's Description of Kutuzov - WAR AND PEACE
• 1812-spring  - Admiral Chichagov is given command of the Black Sea Fleet which involved Bessarabia, Moldavia, Wallaclhia..
• 16 May 1812 - Treaty of Bucharest signed which meant that Bessarabia was separated and taken into Russia and Moldavia and Walchia was returned to Turkey
• 1812 - Congress of Paris gave S. Bessarabia to Moldavia
• 1812 - 7 Sept (Monday) - Battle of Borodino
• 1812 - 14 Sept 3:00 P.M.: Fire of Moscow began
  • - Five year old Georg Hein, his mother and others are walking, riding, or are being carried away from Moscow
    • Heins travel to Kischinev / Bess.
• 1814 - Tsar Alexander issued a proclamation announcing the establishment of colonies in the province of Bessarabia.
• 1814 - the Germans emigrants who would become colonists  in Russia started out on their journey to Bessarabia under the leadership of commissioner Krueger and would be a part of 1500 Germans.....
• 1814-1815 - German colonization began officially in Bessarabia  They were: [P or =Protestants, mostly Evangelical Lutherans; C=Catholics; names in brackets are the Russian names]. Soak Creek and Tarutino received the first 200 German emigrants who'd claim their land grants.   Each of these two villages were to have 100 families....
  1. Soak [Sak] Creek/1814- became known as Alexander[1815] then -Borodino,  
     • The community consisted of 100 German families  in 1814 , who spent 13 weeks in native Moldavian homes while shelters called wicker works were built.... and another 15 German families were added in 1815 who had traveled from the German states of:
       • 64 Wuerttemberg [many from the Black Forest area]
       • 9 Baden
       • 2 Saxony
       • 18 West Prussia [Poland]
       • 22 Mecklenburg
     • The dominant language was to be Swabian which was Low German
     • They were given 7614 hectors (18,806.5 acres), was increased to 78832 (19,345 acres) hectars by purchase
       • hector = 2.7 acres
       • According to the article The History of the Wagner Clan written by Jack Wagner  in the Bessarabian Newsletter, p. 37, Vol.3, Issue: 3:  "The town of Borodino with its 320,: [?JARH Note:  most articles claim 100 families], "families was granted three horse-driven flour mills by the Russian Government.  Russia allowed about a quart of land for each male immigrant who was a least 20 years old.  Also a sod house and barn, a pair of oxen, a wagon and a plow were given to them.  After one year they were to be on their own."
     • 1815 the wicker works were replaced with huts with stone foundations
     • - Michael Wilhelm Schweickert And The Deserted Black Smith Shop
       • Forged Papers
  2. Tarutino [Anschakrak]-P
  3. Wittenberg [Malojareslawetz I], P & C
• The Borodinoian plows began to break the soil, seed may have been barely, oats, rye, corn, hemp, mustard and millet were planted, acacia and fruit trees were planted, also,  and 5 wells  of good quality water were being completed..  A quarry of lime stone is being dug and adobe bricks are being made....
  • - Schweickert Plow
• 1816-1817 - Other German colonies took place they were:
  1. Alft-Eft [Fere-Campenois]- P
  2. Arzis-P
  3. .Beresina [Kogelnik]
  4. Brienne [Peterwunsch]- P
  5. Kloestitz-P
  6. Krasna-C
  7. .Kulm [Paulsberg]-P
  8. Leipzig [Skinos]-P
  9. Paris-P
• 1817 - Borodino:  The 17teeners [60 German emigrants out of 1,360 from Wu. who arrived at Ismail's quarantine area]  arrived in Bessarabia and a number of them were sent to Borodino
  • - My grandmother Christina, nee Schweikert, Hein who was born in 1885 recalled that even as late as 1890s the children's children's children of the 17teeners were still being teased about "arriving late" in Borodino.
• 1818 - Tsar Alexander I visits Bessarabia:
  • Schools
    • Tsar issued the Lancastrian method of teaching and orders school have wall-charts
• 1818 - Colonist Welfare Committee established and General J. N. Insow [Jnsow]  becomes the first president
• 1818 - Another German colony was established:
  1. Teplitz-P
• 1819 - Plague of pest strikes Bessarabia
• 1821 - German colonies established were:
  1. Katzbach- P
  2. Schabo
• 1822
  1. Sarata-P
  2. Alt-Postal- [Malojareslawetz II- P
• 1822 - Borodino suffered crop failure and fires destroyed a number of family homesteads
• 1822 - Pushkin In Kischinev:
  •   Pushkin Poem  [knew Decembritists...]
• Plague of locust caused failure of many crops in Bessarabia
• 1825-1855 - Nicholas I ruled Russia
  • German wife: Charlotte (Alexandra), dau. of Fred. Wilhelm III, King of Prussia
• 1825 - German Colonies established were:
  1. .Neu-Arzis-P
  2. Neu-Elft- P
• 1825 - Decembritist: Members of an anti-Tsarist revolt occurred in Dec 1825 after the death of Alexander I and tested the new Tsar Nicholas II.  Many of the leaders were aristocrats. Five were executed and the others exiled to Siberia.
  • Excellent Book:  The Princess of Siberia, The Story of Maria Volkonsky by Christine Suterland
    • Obolensky
    • Truebetsky
    • Borisov
    • Yakubovich
    • Muraview
    • Davydov
  • - Importance To Bessarabian Germans Seeking For More Land
• 1827 -
  • 2 Sept 1827 flood water carried away many houses, barns, stables, hay shelters, plus farm animals, as well as some people
  • Borodino was beginning to show prosperity. Nine homes had been built with stone, however, hardship occurred with another failure of crops; the floods took no lives in their village
  • Fries report: tells us on page  207 and 208 and the Bessarabian Newsletter p. 36, Vol. 2, Issue 3:.
    • "at the right riverbanks of the creek Sak.  [the] Count in 1827 were 127 families, 328 males and 309 females:
      • Wu - 270 males and 255 females
      • Pr - 14 males and 14 females
      • Pol - 3 males and 1 female
      • Sax - 4 males
      • Me - 37 males and 39 females
• 1828 Feb 29 - "...a new administrative act was promulgated by which Bessarabia became a Russian province, dependent on the Ministry of St. Petersburg." p. 80  BESSARABIA by Charles Upson Clark
• 1828 - War against Turkey
• 1828 and 1829: "...the constant passage of army troops through the colony," [Borodino], "particularly at harvest time, hindered the people from doing their field work, so that many farmers fell into a state of poverty
  • The colonists were obligated to supply food to the troops as well as transportation and labor services when needed
• 1829 - Borodino:  fires destroyed a number of family homesteads; 14 Nov. no harm came to people or property from the earthquake
• 1830 - German Colony established:
  1. Gnadental [Neu-Sarata]-P
• 1831 - Cholera Epidemic in Bessarabia
  • Borodino: "considerable number of the people in the community became victims of a cholera epidemic, and numerous families were stricken, so that their farming operations deteriorate"
• 1833 - Only the Russian language could be used in the civil administration in Bessarabia
• 1834 - German  Colonies established were:
  1. Dennewitz - P
  2. Friedenstal - P
  3. Lichental - P
• 1835 - Ministry of Imperial Domains was given charge of colonial affairs
  • It was ordered that  the Russian Orthodox priests and minister give free instruction in their homes in reading, the catechism, church prayers, etc.
• 1838, 11 Jan. - Borodino:  No harm to person or property from earthquake
• 1839 - German Colony established was:
  1. Plotzk [Draguli] - P
• By 1839 Borodino had thirteen stone houses, 16 crown houses, and eighty-six built of lime brick.... built on stone... Some had brick tile roofs and some had thatched roofs
• Winter of 1840:  Bessarabia has a hard winter
• 1840/41 - General W. von Hahn becomes Pres. of the Welfare Committee
• 1842 -
  • Central Schools were to be established
  • Borodino: fires destroyed a number of family homesteads
  • The construction of Borodino's Lutheran Church began and would have 750 seats
• 1845 - Borodino: two houses were destroyed by the flood waters of a cloud burst
• 1845 - Chutors in Borodino:
  • Roemmich Chutor, one of eight of which seven are nearer Worms Odessa
  • Hoffman Gut [estate/ chutor]:
    •  Hoffman was from Winheim on the Bergstrasse -Baden [Germany]
      • Had escaped the Napoleonic Army by swimming across the Rhine River; returned home and was quickly on his way to Russia to make a new life
      • Johann F. Hoffman, the son, administered an estate near Odessa and then purchase his own estate near Kloestitz in 1845
      • Johann's son, Alfred Hoffmann m. Emilie Roemmich and inherited the estate of Lambrowka n. Kloestitz, as well as the estate of Vladimirowka and they began their success story of raising purebred horses (Orlov Trotters )....  plus other livestock. See Kern bk. pps. 133-134
        • Johann was elected to the agricultural post in Beneder and where he also officiated as Justice of the Peace

    • Daniel Hein: "Racing Tolstoy's Horse" - St. Petersburg

    • In Kern's book on Bessarabia there are mention other German-Russian villages who, also, breed the Orlov horses.  One of them was Basyrjamka Colony  p. 165. This particular community also breed Caracul sheep and the important red Angus from Holstein which resulted in the breeding of a valuable milk cow. Check my web site for other villages who bred horses, cattle and sheep with great success:

    • [Villages of German-Russians, A  List  URL is: http://members.aol.com/remmick2/Remmick.Home.Site.2.index.html/Page9.html
• 1848 - Borodino: "Although the colony, in view of the afore mentioned misfortunes and setbacks, could not achieve prosperity in the full sense of the word, it would not be overlooked that, by and large , it belonged to the more well-to-do among the Bessarabia communities. Material well-being had been on the increased, especially since the colonists have become more familiar with the natural qualities their annual seeding of grain has increased four and eightfold." Village report of 1848.
• 1853 - 1856: Crimean War
• 1884 / 1885 - The thief of cattle ran rampant in Bessarabia
• 1855-1881 - Alexander II ruled Russia
  • German Wife:  Mary, dau. of Louis II, GD of Hesse
• 1855 - Cholera Epidemic  and drought in Bessarabia
• 1856  - After Crimean War the Treaty of Paris united Wallachia and Moldavia regained Bessarabia which was then ruled under the Hospodar of Moldavia ; Kaymakams was appointed ruler
  • German colonies within Bessarabia were ruled by the Moldavian Hospodar
• 1856-1878 Congress of Berlin united Bessarabia, Moldavia and Walachia and Borodino falls under the rule of Rumania
  • Charles [Karl, Carol]  of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Prince [1866] & King of Rumania [1881] which incorporated Borodino/Bess. for a time before it was returned to Russia
    • Parents: Charles Anthony, Pr. of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Josephine d. of Charles G.D. of Baden
• 17 Jan 1859  [5 Feb 1859 NS] - First local Hospodars [Vovjod/Governor/Khan] Fuerst [Prince] Alexander Jon Cuza [Kuza] ruled three main parts of Bessarabia which were Izmail, Kagul and Bolgrad and was an ally of Russia
• 1861 - Alexander II's Liberation of serfs.
• 1863 -  1864: The Second Polish Revolution
• 1863 - Corporal punishment for school children became illegal
• 1864 - Local self-government, known as Zemstvo, is established in Black Sea Colonies
• 1865 - Corporal punishment for women became illegal
• 22 May 1866 - Carol I [Karl, Charles], son of  Prince Anton,  Hohenzollern-Sigmarien, Prince of Rumania ruled
• 1866-1881 - Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Hohenzollern-Sigmarien elected ruler of Rumania by  assemblies of Moldavia and Walachia and able to retain 30,000 army men became King of the Rumanian Kingdom in 1881; Invested in Constantinople by the Sultan
• 1866-1869: The first school was replaced by a large building in these years, which required the high construction cost of 5314 rubles and 58 kopecks [sic; kopeck] in Borodino
• 1866 - Cholera Epidemic in Bessarabia
• 1874 - German-Russian Colonists no longer were exempted from being drafted into the arm services but  hereafter subjected to military service as were all Russian citizens, so, the Colonial Offices were closed.
• 1877 to 1878  - Russo-Turkish War
  •  Kristina, nee Henke, Schweickert: My Love Gone To War  
• 1878 - Congress of Berlin restored this area of Bessarabia to Russia and united Moldavia and Walachia
• 1881-1894 - Alexander III ruled Russia
  • German wife: Dagmar (Maria), dau. of Christian IX, King of Denmark [son of William, Duke of Holstein. -Sonderberg and Louise of Hesse-Cassel]  and Louise of Hesse-Cassel
• 1882- the large Brothers Schock and Co. Mill was founded in Borodino
• 1883 - Drought occurred in Bessarabia and Diphtheria Epidemic
  • ...in Beresina  / Bess. there were 34 people who  died of diphtheria
• 1886 - The old school in Borodino was replaced with a larger school and cost 5,314 kopecks
• 1887 - 48 children died of diphtheria in Besssarabia
• - Midwife Stories
  • Story from Jaimie McEvoy
    • Wilhelmina, nee Erdmann, Littke's  Story: White  & Wolves
  • Speaking about wolves:
    • Story from Margaret:
      • Grandfather Christian Funke from Alt Elft and in the service his His Majesty's Army
      • Grandmother Funk Saved Her Family   [d. 1903 Dak. :>)  ]
    • Richard Story About Meeting a Wolf p. 80-81
      • YELLOWSTONE COUNTRY by Richard Hein
        • p. 6 - Ludwig Hein and the Wolves of Montana
• - Karoline Salzsiedler Weiss [b. 1808 lived near Benkendorf] And The Cow
• 1891 - Start of the Trans-Siberian Railways
• 1894-1917 - Nicholas II ruled Russia; adbicated. 1917
  • German wife: Alix, dau. of Louis IV, GD of Hesse
• ______  "The Union Pacific Railway tempted som of the Bessarabian Germans to emigrate to Kansas, where they were assured of finding land for wheat-raising like that to which they were used in Bessarabia"  p. 73 BESSARABIA  by Charles Upson Clark.
• 1896 - Expansion into Manchuria
• 1900 - Boxer Rebellion in China:
  •  Daniel Hein  "Hein and Han"
• 1900 - Around the turn of this century, the crowded conditions [land had been divided, then divided and then divided again by the descendants of the original colonist] and various warning signs of political unrest were murmmers,  many Borodinoians began their next major migration. At first the migration was just to surrounding daughter colonies then  some of the young men went off to find jobs in Banat area which was in Rumania, then,  Borodinoians who heard about the new frontiers and streets paved with gold  hurried off to  USA while others went to Canada. A smaller group headed to make money in the coffee business in South America....
• 1902 - The Brothers Schock and Col. Mill was modernized and "one of the best mills in the area" according to the village report
• 1903 - Andreas Widmer from Taurtino / Bess. was elected president of the Zemtsvo
• 1904 - 5  Russo-Japanese War
  •   Jakob Roemmich: "Quartermaster In Vladivostok"
• 1905  9 Jan - Bloody Sunday
• 1905 - Revolt  [1905 Revolution]
• 1906 - 10 May: First Duman - A new legislation which allowed peasants to consolidate holdings and leave communes and created the FUNDAMENTAL LAWS  [First Constitution]
  • German-Russian elected to the Duma were:
    • Johann Gerstenberger  [Family estate n. Kloetitz] elected to the Russia First Duma  (served to times) 
      • See story in Bessarabia Newsletter, Vol. 3, Isue 2, p. 18
      • elected twice to the Rumanin parliament
      • Des. of  Beresina Colonist in 1815
      • Bought the estate of Countess Pototzkaja in the Taumuerer Valley n. Kloestitz / Bess.
    • Andreas Widmer [Tarutino / Bess] elected to First Duma  See his story in Bessarabia Newsletter Vol 3, Issue 3 p. 32.
• 1911:  A second school house resulted through reconstruction of a grain warehouse in Borodino.
• 1911 - Bessarabian Social List:
  • 468 famailies held 'inscribled" titles
    • 198  of these had been raised through the ranks of the military [Colonel and above in rank]
• 1912 - 65 banks were listed as well as other credit institutions.  The cash value wa no more than 40,000,000 American dollars in value, however, American capital was starting to flow into Bessarabia through the banks....;  70% of the large estates were mortgaged
• 1912:  By this year the following public schools who taught in Russian listed in Bessarabian Records:
  • 7 classical lycees  [boys and girls] preparing  students for universities
  • 4 scientific lycees  [boys and girls] preparing students for universities
  • 13 boys and 4 girls gymnasiums
  • "government "normal" school
  • 2 art schools
  • 1 school of music
  • 1 vinticulture
  • 1 technical school
  • 3 agricultural schools
  • 2 secondary commercial schools
  • Data on teachers were: 45.5 % held a higher degree; 45.4 % held a high school education and 9% only a lower grade [grammar] school degree.  1/3 of the teachers were women and were generally better educated than the men
  • Average school year was 160 days
  • In the country schools just 1/4 of the boys attended school aged 7 to 14  and 1/8 girls
• Population consisted of the following nationalities:
  • Ukrainians, Poles, Bulgarians, White Russians, Jews, Kirgizes, Tartars, Letts, Georgians, Armenians, Gypsies, Mongolians, Chinese, Koreans, German-Russians....
• 1914 - Great War [WW I] starts
• 20 May 1917 - First Revolutionary Congress
• Summer 1917 - Lenin ordered the execution of Nicholas II and his family who were prisoners in a Siberian town of Ekaterinburg.
• 1917:  Michael II becomes the uncrown Tsar of Russia
• Death of Nicholas II and family recorded in history as 16/17 July 1918
• 1918 Jan 13 - The Rumanian Army entered Kishinev.  The following day General Broshteanu and his staff arrived at noon.
• 1918 - Only four paved roads exsisted making it difficult to travel accept by foot, wagon, carriage, cart or train
• 6 April 1918- Rumania annexed Bessarabia who had earlier proclaimed themselves as an autonomous republic and renounced all ties with the USSR
• 1919 - Anreas Widmer [Tarutino/ Bess] elected ot the Rumanian House of Representatives [Bess. had become part of Rumania a year earlier]; See his story in Bessarabia Newsletter Vol 3, Issue 3 p. 32.
• 1920 - 1921 - Great Famine and it's estimated that more than 300,000  Black Sea German-Russian colonists starved to death... under the communist regime....
• 1940 - Germans occupied this area; Men were taken into Germany  military ranks
• .....Retaken by USSR [Russia];
• 1940, June 23  - Bessarabian officials were notified that the USSR would occupy the area once again and evacuation of Bessarabia was to occur within four days
• 1940, Sept 5 -  end of Oct: The German Commission and representatives of the USSR agreed to the resettlement of the German-Russian population back to the "Reich" and by the end of Oct. they had all gone.....
  • Deportation of German-Russians in Borodino / Bess.;  many were taken to Poland then Germany
  • Village report of 1940 to the German officials:
    • 2,764 people
      • 460 farmers
      • 98 tradesmen (8  blacksmiths, 6 carpenters, 4 coopers, 9 shoemakers, 4 tailors, 6 saddle makers, weaver, butcher and 3 potters)
      • millers  [Shock Brothers and Co. were the second largest in the Bess. colonies]
      • other - 83
    • Language spoken: Swabish
    • Main crops: Grains, corn, oil fruits (sun flowers), wine, vegetables
    • Livestock:
      • 1,118 horses
      • 1,200 cows
      • 3,500 sheep
      • 1,550 pigs
    • Had a library which held 300 volumes
    • 21 Borodinoians were exiled
    • 29 Borodinoians died in exile or while trying to escape
• 1991-Large part of Bessarabia  retaken by Moldavia; Southern portion part seems to be claimed by Ukraine Republic. .

http://www.remmick.org/Borodino.Bess.History/PageBess3.html

Judy A. Remmick-Hubert

240 St. Mary's Rd.

Lafayette, CA

USA

A Few Web Sites URLs:

http://www.remmick.org/Borodino.Bess.History

http://www.remmick.org/Borodino.Bess.Genealogy

http://www.remmick.org/Hein.Genealogy

http://www.remmick.org/Montana.Memories

http://www.remmick.org/Remmick.Family.Tree

KEY:

  If time permits I have a story to tell you.  Some of these stories can be found on my  German-Russian Stories website

150-1066 - Germanic conquests -  color green > indicates this deals with some kind of German group, history or German-Russians

Soak [Sak] Creek/1814- color navy >became known as Alexander[1815] then -Borodino - indicates this is history of Borodino / Bess. S. Russia

 Daniel Hein - color maron > indicates this is a family member of Judy A. Remmick-Hubert

1713-1745 - Mikhail Romanov > indicates a ruler of Russia and dates of ruling years noted

major migration > indicates something important noted

P = Proestant Village / Colony

K  = Kathoic [Catholic] Village / Colony